I have a question concerning the quarter on my 72malibu.Behind the rear wheel and half way around the wheel weel arch I have some rust blisters starting.I am the second owner of the car and it has had one repaint in its life and it is in great shape.The rest of the quarter is in great shape and I can't justify changing the whole thing.What are your thoughts on pathching an original panel versus changing it?

I would patch it. Done right, there is no reason it shouldn't last. Replacement patch panels are available to make your life easier. Better to keep as much of the original sheetmetal as possible unless you can find a NOS quarter.

my $0.02

cheers,
Mike S.

One thing you may want to consider are the condition of the outer wheelhousing and the trunk floor drop-off that runs from your trunk to the bottom of the rear quarter. When I patched the rear on my 70 I found that the those panels were rotted away as well. I was able to patch the outer wheel house but had to replace the drop-off's.
Looking back it would have been a heck of a lot simpler to pull the quarter. It would have made it alot easier to get to them and repair/replace. Even a 1/2 quarter would be worth considering.

Thanks for the replies,I have been doing paint and bodywork for 15 years professionally.I was more interested in others oppinions on the issue.The quarter is in bare metal and the inners and trunk floor drop off is cherry.I would love to be able to afford a N.O.S. quarter but my labor is cheap for myself http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif